I’d say all in all our first family vacation was a huge hit. We went to Sayulita, Mexico – which is about an hour north of Puerta Vallarta. It was a great way to spend a week relaxing and a very mellow first vacation for Bella. We rented a great little house north of town with our neighbors, Phil & Kirsten and their son, Owen. The house was in a little complex with a shared pool, all of which looked out to the beach. Walk into town was about 5 mins by beach or dirt road – and the town was very family friendly – tons of family tourists, and it felt very safe and welcoming. Probably the only hiccup on our trip was that Jeremy got sick 🙁 – Mexico is never friendly to his tummy ) – fortunately, he was only sick for a couple of days. The locals were friendly, and mellow, and the restaurants were plentiful with great Mexican seafood. Bella was an excellent traveler, as usual. She did decide to wake up around 5 am every morning, though – but it didn’t really surprise me all that much considering her naptime and feeding routines were nonexistant most of the week. She had quite a few firsts during the trip – first time in a pool, first time in a boat, first time getting a kiss from a cute boy (you should have seen the way Owen leaned in for her – cocking his head to the side – it was absolutely priceless, if only I could have gotten it on film!!) She loved the pool. The first day, she clung to me a bit, but she was definitely happy and curious about playing in the water – but by the second day, we tried Owen’s ring float. She leaned back like an adult would, just lounging in the crystal blue water – she OWNED that pool :). She was totally at ease, and enjoying every minute. The boat rides mostly just lulled her to sleep. The highlight of our trip was on Jeremy’s birthday – we took a 30 minute boat ride to a secluded beach near Punta Mita, where we snorkeled in clear water (and saw all kinds of beautiful fish – even lobster and octopus!) and hung out on the soft white sand. Our boat captain/snorkel guide, Jose, was amazing – definitely a sea lover. Jeremy caught a jackfish on the boatride home (which he made into some delicious ceviche that evening), and we even saw a baby humpback whale! What a day!!! It is one that I am sure that I will not forget.
Other “Bella” News –
She learned to really crawl the day before we left (of course!) and then really enjoyed practicing every day that we were there. She can crawl about 8 paces before tiring out and flopping onto her tummy – but she definitely gets the idea of the movement, and when she is determined to get to something, she goes straight for it. It is definitely going to take some getting used to for Jeremy and I – we really need to keep an eye on her now!! She also has a new tooth coming in (the top right one broke through yesterday, and the other one is definitely on its way. So – it was quite a big week for her. I think after all the excitement she is happy to be home. Getting back into her routine, and sleeping in her crib (she slept ALOT in my sling during the trip) during her naps will probably be a challenge as it usually is when we return from a long trip. I can tell that she is happy to be home and sleeping in her own crib though, already at night – she slept past 6 am the past two mornings! YEA!!! I’ll post video of crawling soon – but for now, enjoy the photos from our vacation.
